NEW BOSTON, Texas (KTAL/KMSS) – Prosecutors continued to build their case Tuesday that Taylor Parker went to multiple doctors trying to get a diagnosis to confirm her claims that she had multiple sclerosis.
The testimony comes in the second week of the penalty phase of Parker’s capital murder and kidnapping trial in Bowie County. The jury convicted Parker on Oct. 3 on those charges in the death of 21-year-old Reagan Hancock and the kidnapping and death of her 35-week pre-term baby, Braxlynn Sage.
In the first phase of the trial, prosecutors established that Parker has an extensive history of lying, scheming, and faking illnesses and that she faked a pregnancy for 10 months before she brutally attacked Hancock in her home on Oct. 9, 2020, cutting the unborn baby from her womb.
Now, prosecutors are presenting a case to the jury that will decide whether she gets life in prison or the death penalty that Parker’s behavior was not the result of mental illness or a brain injury but instead that she was calculated and persistent in her efforts to avoid her work and parenting responsibilities, and is still claiming a variety of medical issues in an attempt to avoid death row.
Titus Regional Medical Center neurologist Dr. Saud Khan testified Tuesday morning that Taylor Parker, then Taylor Wacasey, got angry when he told her she did not have a stroke and that he could not diagnose her with MS because she did not meet the criteria. He says he did take her claim that she could not see out of her eye seriously, though, because it is a symptom of a condition that can cause vision loss and is a possible indication in patients who go on to develop multiple sclerosis. So he prescribed steroids and referred her to an ophthalmologist.
According to Khan’s testimony, she would go on to try to get at least three other doctors to diagnose her with MS and used previous visits seeking this diagnosis to bolster her claims.
While Dr. Khan testified that he did not diagnose Parker with MS, her defense co-counsel Mac Cobb pushed the neurologist to confirm that he could not conclusively rule out the possibility that she could be on a path to developing the disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord. Cobb also asked Khan to confirm that it would be stressful just to believe she could be diagnosed with it.
Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards established through Khan’s testimony that there is a condition known as conversion in which patients report symptoms that cannot be explained by testing but nonetheless feel real to them. Symptoms in this case are consistent and involuntary, and patients do not know they are doing it. Dr. Kahn explained that Parker’s symptoms were inconsistent, which suggests her symptoms were likely psychological.
The jury also heard from Parker’s ex-husband’s current wife, who testified that Parker frequently failed to call or show up to pick up her son for visitation and that on the occasions she did, she would promptly drop them off at a relative’s.
Amy Wacasey testified about the journal she kept, logging each month’s failure to pay child support, the frequent no-shows, and other incidents that left the little boy confused and upset at times. Wacasey said she started keeping the notes so they could go after Parker for child support, but later realized they wanted to make the case for removing her parental rights.
In one noted incident, the little boy developed a sore on his bottom after returning from visitation with Parker. Amy Wacasey testified that she asked the child when he last changed his underwear and that he told her it had been five days. They ended up taking him to the hospital, where they confirmed he had a staph infection.
Amy Wacasey also testified that it came to be a relief when Parker consistently failed to show up for her son so that she did not have to worry about the child being upset and confused or deal with the fallout from Parker’s lies and manipulations. Wacasey said Taylor would cry to manipulate the boy, and that he asked them at one point why he could not call Amy Wacasey ‘Mom.’ According to Wacasey, Tommy explained to him that Taylor was his mother. The boy reportedly told them Taylor did not spend time with him and never took him to the park.
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Wacasey said there were also some behavior issues when he would come back from visitation with Parker. For example, Wacasey said, Parker had reportedly told him that it was okay to lie.
“We have a Christian household where it’s not okay to lie,” Wacasey said on the stand. “It’s not okay to live that way. “
Tommy Wacasey himself was recalled to the stand Tuesday. Tommy testified during the first phase of the trial about how he tried to warn Parker’s boyfriend Wade Griffin anonymously that Parker was not pregnant.
This time, Wacasey testified about the marriage, Parker’s treatment of their young son, and how confusing this has all been for the boy.
“It’s pretty hard to have to explain it to a child,” Wacasey said.
Wacasey also explained the reason he and his wife Amy are standing by their decision not to allow the child to take jail calls from his incarcerated mother.
“Why does she wanna be a mom now?” Tommy Wacasey said on the stand. “She wasn’t a mom before, so why now? Why should I let my son talk to somebody that done this?”
Testimony continues Tuesday afternoon. The penalty phase of the trial is could take at least another two to three weeks.
